Gregory C. Gretsch
Greg Gretsch | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Venture capitalist |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Known for | Venture capital investments, Forbes Midas List #19 (2009) |
Gregory C. Gretsch, commonly referred to as Greg Gretsch, is a venture capitalist based in San Francisco, California, affiliated with Jackson Square Ventures.
Biography
Gretsch earned a bachelor's degree in management information systems from the University of Georgia. At the start of his professional journey, he worked as an IT consultant at Andersen Consulting (currently known as Accenture) and held a position at Apple Computer, where he managed product marketing and led a QuickTime-related project in collaboration with CNN. In 1993, he established Vicarious, a company specializing in educational and reference CD-ROMs. He founded GiftONE in 1996, which was subsequently acquired by SkyMall, and co-founded Connectify in 1997, an enterprise software firm concentrating on Electronic Direct Marketing. Following Connectify’s acquisition by Kana Communications in 1999, Gretsch took on the role of Vice President of Electronic Direct Marketing.
His venture capital career commenced at Sigma Partners in 2001. After eleven years, Gretsch and colleagues Pete Solvik, Bob Spinner, and Josh Breinlinger separated to create Sigma West in 2011, which was later renamed Jackson Square Ventures by 2019.
The Midas List
In January 2009, Forbes ranked Gretsch #19 on its Annual Midas list highlighting leading technology venture capitalists.
Investments
During his tenure at Sigma Partners, Gretsch backed companies such as Attributor, EqualLogic (later acquired by Dell), Jellyvision, oDesk (now Upwork), Responsys (which went public before being purchased by Oracle), Sharpcast, TalkingBlocks (acquired by HP), and Zetta. His individual investments include Postini (bought by Google) and SlimDevices (acquired by Logitech).
Gretsch spearheaded Sigma’s Series A funding round for EqualLogic in 2001 alongside Charles River Ventures. Dell’s $1.4 billion purchase of EqualLogic in 2008 represented the largest all-cash transaction ever recorded in venture capital at that time, solidifying Gretsch’s inclusion on the Forbes Midas list.